Becca Galligan

What have you learned about these concepts through the writing projects in this course?

I have learned that most writing should be direct at someone or a community. When it is directed at a community is should be written in their language and their style of writing. It you are trying to write to someone outside the community you should use simple language and an easy to read format for people who aren’t use to the community writing style.

How and why might you be able to use these concepts in other courses?

I can use these concepts in other course by thinking who am I writing for. What kind of language and format should I be using? This would help me be able to decide my audience and how I should write for the class.

How might you use these concepts after you graduate?

I would use the concepts the same way I would use them in class. I would think about the community I am writing for and go from there. I would then think about the style of writing and what medium I should use. This will help me get across what I am trying to write about.

How could these concepts benefit you as a citizen and contributing member of society?

These concepts benefit me as a citizen and contributing member of society by if I decided to write more history pieces I would know how to display it in a way people could understand. Not only could I write for my specific writing community I could also write for people outside of my writing community. I would be able to effectively get the word out there.

Are you ready to “put in your oar?”

I am ready to put in my “oar.” I think with the knowledge I have gained from this class I could put in my “oar” better than I could before.

Human rights started taking shape in the 1970’s during the Cold War. In the 1970’s is when human rights was starting to be integrated into American foreign policy. Human rights did start in the 1970’s. There were movements for human rights before that, but in the 1970’s is when the fight for human rights became part of American foreign policy. Americans didn’t want rights just for themselves, they believed everyone should have rights. The Cold War is where Americans started fighting for human rights outside of the country. There are many reasons why this started to happen. The biggest question is how did Americans view human rights in the foreign policy during the Cold War and how did this bring an end to the Cold War?

Human rights became a big deal during and after the Vietnam War. Some think the NGOs (non-governmental organization) had a lot to do with the rising support of human rights. Most NGOs collected evidence of vile behavior of Americans during the Vietnam War. Others think it was because of U.S. forceful behavior in foreign affairs. “D.P. Forsythe attributes the emergence of human rights to congressional assertiveness in foreign affairs.” (Tulli). Many Scholars agree on two things, first humans rights was a reaction to the Vietnam War and the rising military in America’s Cold War policy. The Second is Congress became dissatisfied with Kissinger and his want for more power instead of the want for better principles.

NGOs were big parts of helping everyday Americans with their fight for human rights. NGOs established a strong presence in Washington and helped people lobby for their rights especially in other countries. One example of this is Olga Talamante’s kidnapping. Olga Talamante was in Argentina teaching English and volunteering in the community. Things had gotten bad in Argentina so Olga bought a plane ticket home. She didn’t make it home so her parents contacted elected Representatives in California and Washington. Her parents got nothing back from the government. Then her parents contacted the ARA (Bureau if Inter-American Affairs) and they contacted the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. They found out that Olga had been arrested. The Argentine government could hold her indefinitely and without charge.

Her parents created the OTDC (Olga Talamente Defense Committee) to help get back their daughter. They teamed up with the NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America). They petitioned the US government to cut off ties with countries who go against American foreign policy to help improve human rights overseas. This worked and America cut ties with Argentina and they got Olga back and she became a leading voice in the effort to convince lawmakers to cut ties with those against American foreign policy. William Schmidli says “By the end of the decade, human rights advocates had established broad grassroots support, organized an influential lobby in Washington, and demonstrated an ability to effectively mobilize on behalf of human rights issues.”(Schmidli). NGO got big and were adding thousands of new members every year. Many supported what they were doing.

Human rights were used to end the Cold War. With the number of human right activist increasing it helped pushed the US into ending the war. Effie Pedaliu wrote “US foreign policy makers of the value of human rights issues as a powerful weapon against the USSR.” (Pedaliu). The US used human rights to help end the Cold War. Effie Pedaliu as wrote “The Reagan administration came to adopt human rights in its ‘all out’ campaign against the ‘evil empire’” (Pedaliu). The Reagan administration used this to help show that the USSR needed to change their ways.

What helped push the end of the Cold War and Human rights was the unlikely friendship of Anatoly Adamishin (former Soviet deputy minister) and Richard Schifter (former US assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian). The two of them worked together on human rights. Marie-Pierre Rey explains the relationship between Anatoly Adamishin and Richard Schifter, “First, it is the story of a fine human adventure, the deepening friendship between two men whose personal backgrounds, education, political culture, mental universe, and perceptions opposed them to each other.” (Rey). Even though these two men should not get along due to their different backgrounds they found a way to a make a friendship and even come to an agreement with each other. They wanted what was best for the people and work on human rights together.

Another thing that helped was the Détente. The détente reduced political, economic and military costs. This was the time where the US started to stop building up their military in order to show the USSR that they didn’t want another World War. Umberto Tulli explains how the détente needs to be effective, “In order to be effective, détente needed to find domestic legitimization, replacing Cold War liberalism and developing a new consensus through a public discourse which emphasized new buzzwords such as order, equilibrium, and stability, as well as resounding slogans such as ‘end of Cold War’ or ‘durable peace’.” (Tulli). This means that they were trying to push human rights to help ease tensions. With the buzzword equilibrium they mean they wanted to find a balance to help end the war and make the two countries stable again.

Hearings were held for human rights. Donald Fraser began the hearing on human rights and American foreign policy. With the help of Congress and NGOs representatives the US and the world community agreed on three main points. First the growing interdependence between US and the world had made the US more responsive to human rights violations. The second is the US should reinforce cooperation with NGOs and networks. The third was the US government should be more active in the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms abroad. Umberto Tulli states that “Fraser’s conclusions were collected in ‘Human Rights in the World Community: A Call for US Leadership’.”(Tulli).

Helsinki Final Act of 1975 also challenged the Cold War. Helsinki Final Act was an agreement on travel, solidify borders and to help push more human rights, especially when it comes to experimenting on people for medical purposes. The act empowered dissidents and discredit communist regimes. Jeremi Suri explains that “Scholars have pointed to the human rights provisions in the Helsinki Final Act as a challenge to the Cold War – a legitimization for dissident voices in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union that would ultimately bring down communism.” (Suri). This act helped show people that not everything the Soviet Union was doing should be legal, especially when it came it human experiments.

Human rights took their shape during the 70’s. It became part of America’s foreign policy and worked its way around the world. NGOs helped push this rights and was able to get their foot in Washington and have say in human rights. The Vietnam War is what pushed Americans to want these rights. The NGOs got evidence of the abuse in other countries and show it on T.V. for everyone to see. This helped pushed their cause and get their word out. Olga Talamente is a good example of what these groups could do and how far they would go to help people. Hearings were done on human rights and it was agreed that the US should step up more and fight for these rights all around the world. The détente helped with the rights along with the Helsinki Final Act. This all lead to the end of the Cold War.

I learned how to write a literature review. It took a lot of reading of example to figure it out. I also learned that writing the review wasn’t easy and it took a lot of work and effort for me to get it done. I also had to get some outside help in order to write the paper.

What did you take away?

I took away that I can write anything as long as I put the time and effort into it. I also took away learning how to write a literature review. I have a lot of room to grow still in the area but with the right amount of time I practice I could write another one.

What does this sample of your writing demonstrate about what you know about writing?

This sample of writing shows that I still do have a lot to learn about writing, but I can always improve. It also shows that I know how to put in effort to write a paper style I have never written before.

The genre I chose to analysis for the job of a museum curator is websites. Websites aren’t the only genre museum curators use but it’s one of the biggest ones for the public. Other genres museum curators use are emails, grant letters, and prepare programs for the artifacts and the exhibits. I will mainly be focusing on websites. Websites for museums have different aspects to it, but every museum website will contain hours, pricing, donations, and some information about the museum and what they do. Others will have more than just the items listed above. It is important for me and other to understand because museums need a quick and efficient way to communicate with as many people as possible. When a website is created and the information is put on the website then anyone can see it and access it. I will be analyzing how the websites are used and who will use them. Along with the content on the website. Analyzing these websites will help by showing me how websites are built and to get ideas on how to build a museum website in case I need to build one in the future.

I have analyzed three different museum websites. he first museum I chose is the Betts House. It is a smaller museum and shows what kind of genre I will be coming across if I work in smaller museum. The next museum I chose is the Cincinnati Museum Center. It is a more medium size museum. The Cincinnati Museum Center has a few museums within it, but they all share the same website. They have different tabs on the website. The last museum I chose is the Smithsonian. It is a big museum with many attractions and many different people working in it. It also has many museums within it. Most of them share a website, they just have different tabs on the website. Only the museums where the customers have to pay have their own web address so people can buy tickets to it.

The Betts House website is used whenever someone wants to know more about the museum and what they have to offer. This website doesn’t have any other formats. It is the basic essay format. The topic it address is the Betts House. It answers the questions of school trips, when it’s open, price or tickets. Under the visitor information tab, the website says, “The Betts House Will Be Closed March 17-31, 2017.” (The Betts House) They are asking the question and the website is answering it. The writers for this are the museum staff. The Betts House has three people listed as their staff on their website. There is The house and program manager (curator). There is the Museum Properties Chairman, and the President. The writers must know about the history of the house and how the museum runs and what programs they are getting. The circumstances they write under is to get the information out there. They aren’t really rushed. They could write in teams but the website is small that they probably don’t need to. The coordinate with others about what programs will be coming to them though.

The Cincinnati Museum though has a couple different formats. It has essay format and has an informative format. This website interacts with a different type of genre. It interacts with the blog genre. The Cincinnati Museum Center’s website answers the same topic questions as the Betts House. The website has more topics to it though. It goes into detail about what exhibits they have and what artifacts. It also gives information about the history of Cincinnati. Its blog has different information about different parts of history and goes into detail about what items the museum may offer or has offered so people never miss learning about the item. Cincinnati Museum Center has multiple writers for it’s website. This museum has a blog section they have to write who wrote that post at the bottom of the post. There most recent blog post is about x-ray shoe fitting. “The piece also advertises that Stahley’s offered “X-Ray Shoe Fitting”, a common service in shoe stores starting in the 1920s and peaking in the 1940s and 50s.” (http://www.cincymuseum.org/blog/post/4265/XRay%20Shoe%20Fitting#sthash.CCMuaVd4.dpuf).They need multiple writers because the website is so big they need a good amount of people to maintain it.

The Smithsonian is the same as the Cincinnati Museum expect it has more links and it is a bigger website because it is a bigger museum and has multiple museums within its museum. It also has a couple different types of genres interacting with each other, like blog and essay. The Smithsonian answers the same topic questions as the Cincinnati Museum and the Betts House. It also has more to it’s website than both of them do. With the Smithsonian having many different museums within its name it has a bigger website with details about the different types of museums. The Smithsonian has multiple writers for the website. This museum has a blog section and the writers write who wrote the blog at the bottom of the post. The Smithsonian needs multiple writers because of the blog but also how big the website is. One of their blog entries is about Abraham Lincoln’s contemporaries, “Who were Abraham Lincoln’s contemporaries? They included many fascinating people beyond the politicians and military leaders of the Civil War.” (https://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Lincoln%27s-Contemporaries-5993).

There is more than one type of reader for this text. The people who read this text are the people who want to know more about the museums. The websites are for people who are wanting to visit the museum or know more about it. There can be more than one type of reader for this genre. Anyone can read it. They are the reason the website exists in the first place. Without them there wouldn’t be a website or anything to read. They are the genre at their leisure or when they are thinking about visit the house. They want to draw new people into the museum. They want to get as many people as they can to read their website so they can try to increase visitors. The writers write this genre to inform the readers and the readers read it to be informed and learn more. It makes them more knowledgeable.

The content on the websites usually includes facts. Opinions are usually excluded because museums want to get the history out there to as many people as possible. They don’t want to offend people with different opinions. The websites stick to facts. They have facts about the museums. What their hours and how much they cost and the different attractions they have. That is generally the extent of the website. Some websites will show what artifacts they have currently or what artifacts they had in the past or will get in the future not all museums have that though. They will also talk about the different exhibits they have.

The rhetorical appeals that are used are logos, pathos and ethos. The rhetorical appeals are mainly used to get people to come to the museum or to buy year round passes or to donate money to the museum. They are trying to make sure their museums are funded so they use appeals to do this. Like on the Cincinnati museum website they have a tab that is clear and saying buy tickets. Also at the top of their website they have different tabs to buy a membership or to donate to them. When you click on the donation tab the tell you why you should donate to them. They use pathos to do this by saying “Because you share our belief that life is too big to fit into a classroom.” (http://www.cincymuseum.org/support). They also use logos by saying that a donation is tax deductible. This is inductive reasoning. The Smithsonian and the Betts House also has a donation tab.

The texts in the genres are structured either by bullet points or paragraphs. The websites have the most important information on the front page or more easily accessed. The other information is a little harder to get to. The format is usually paragraph. A common layout is for there to be a picture at the top and then be text explaining the picture. Museum websites use a lot of pictures so people can see what they are reading about. The text can sometimes be long but it is usually shorter. The typically use simple sentences. They will sometimes have more complex sentences but I have noticed they use simple and easier to read sentences. The sentences tend not to be long but some can get pretty long depending on what they are writing about. The diction is simple. They don’t use a lot of complex words. They tend to stay away from jargon and slang. They want to appeal to all types of people. The writer’s voice is neutral. They want to get the facts out there more than anything.

The participants have to know the museums are generally non-profit organizations, so they will push for donations or people buying passes. They mainly want to get facts out there so if they don’t find history interesting it may be boring for them to read the articles they have. Everyone is invited to this genre as long as they have the will to learn. Anyone can read it. It was meant to bring people in and keep them in so it is easily read. The only people who are excluded are people who don’t find history interesting or don’t want to learn about it. It encourages readers and writers to get out there and learn something new. They want everyone to see what they have to offer. They don’t want to discourage anyone from learning. Their values, beliefs and goals are all based on learning. They believe everyone should learn. The value knowledge and what it can do. Their goal is to spread as much knowledge as possible. They are strong with the facts. They also keep everything simple. They consider the facts most important. I don’t think they ignore any content. This genre makes learning possible and getting the word out about their museum. I don’t think this genre makes anything difficult. They like to keep it simple so everyone can understand and learn. They love readers and wants as many people as possible reading what they have to offer. They want to get knowledge out there. They want everyone to learn and understand them.

Now I know the different types of genre I may be writing in and how to use it properly.What did you learn from working on this assignment?

I learned that my area of interest has many different writing genres. I also learned it is a bit difficult uncovering what is a writing genre for the field and what isn’t one. I have learned that websites and blogs are one of the biggest ones.

What did you take away?

What I took away is that I will never know for sure what I will write in the future so it’s a good idea to know how to write in all different types of genres. I also learned that the skills I learn now will follow me into my career.

What does this sample of your writing demonstrate about what you know about writing?

This sample of my writing demonstrates that I know how to research. I went into this not knowing anything about genre besides the basics.

My Professional aspiration is to become a museum curator. I wanted to choose a career that involved working with people and not having to sit at a desk all day. I am currently working on my bachelor’s in history. The qualifications I would need to become a museum curator is a “master’s degree in art history, history, archaeology, or museum studies,” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). In small museum’s curator positions can be available to people with bachelor’s degrees because they may have administration and manager responsibilities. Other than the degree no other credentials are needed. Internships or working in related fields are recommended but not necessary. Class wise, to help me better prepare for my career I am taking a computer technology class. I have thought about taking any management classes but I am considering taking a few now to help me better prepare for the future.With the bachelor’s in history I can at least start working at the museum or I can continue on my path at the Newport Aquarium.

I discovered from one of my professional websites that aquariums are part of the museum setting. I never knew this and didn’t think my current job would be very relevant to my career, but it turns out it is relevant. If I continue on my Newport Aquarium career path, I would change departments and join the exhibits department. In exhibits I can work my way up to a coordinator. I have recently interviewed for a position in the exhibits department. I have heard back from them recently and they offered me a different position than the one I applied for. I accepted their offer. It is a lower position than the one I applied for but everyone has to start somewhere.

My other option is to finish my bachelor’s degree and then apply to a local museum for a museum technician position. I get my master’s degree and then apply for a museum curator position. At this point I would have experience in a history museum and would have a better chance of getting the job. I also may look for internships to apply to over the next couple of summers to help gain experiences. I did start looking at some internships the museum has and I have decided to apply to one of their summer camp positions for the summer. They have an internship position or they have a paying position. I am going to apply to both so that way I can get the experience needed. Both positions are almost the same expect for the paying position comes with a little more responsibility. I do plan on checking local museum websites for job opening and internship opportunities. I also plan on applying to as many as I can handle and hope I get a position.

My core values are that I am a people person. According to the personality test I took it says I am a campaigner (ENFP). A campaigner is a people person. They are called a “true free spirit” (16 Personalities) and are known as the life of the party. We enjoy social and emotional connections with others. It also states that ENFP’s “know how to relax” (16 Personalities). This is a good thing because any job can be stressful and it is a useful skill to know how relax after a stressful day. We are “charming, independent, energetic, compassionate and sociable people-pleasers” (16 Personalities). I relate to this because I love talking to people, especially while working. When I’m working I try to talk to as many people as possible and try to give them the best experience as possible. This is good for my career because in order to be a museum curator you have to have great people skills. I would be constantly working with many different people and many different types of people. I would have to be able to work with them all and have good relationships with them. I have to be able to promote my place of employment and in order to do that I would need people skills.

I need to be able to direct and supervise my staff. In a museum setting I would be able to try new and different things and wouldn’t have to do the same thing. Museums are constantly getting new and fresh exhibits to bring people in and I would get to help them do that. I also wouldn’t have to sit at a desk all day. I have had a desk job before and I didn’t like it too much. There was no interaction with any people expect by phone and I also couldn’t sit still in the desk too long without wanting to get up and walk around. I like being on my feet throughout part of the work day. I also like the idea of getting people excited about learning about history. If I can teach someone thing new I call that a successful day.

My professional goals and my long term goals go hand in hand. My long term goals are less specific than my professional goals. My long term goals are to have a stable job that I am happy with. I want to finish my college degree and be able to live a happy life and be able to support myself and not have to rely on anyone. I mainly just want to be self-supporting and maybe even travel a little. I would like to have enough money to do some traveling. My professional goals are to finish my degree in history and go back and get my masters in it. I would also like to get certified in ASL. I am currently taking ASL as my language for my degree and I would like to get certified in it. Depending on where I go that would be a two-year process. After all my schooling I would like to have a steady job as a museum curator and have steady pay and be self-supporting. I think I would like to work at the Cincinnati museum or be able to work at the Smithsonian museums. Working at the Smithsonian would be greatest dream job. I also would be happy if I could stay at Newport Aquarium and make a good pay while working there.

I would contribute to my community as a museum curator by teaching whoever I can. I would get the opportunity to teach different people so many different things. At the aquarium I enjoy teaching people new things about the animals there. I don’t know very much about them right now, but I am learning more and more about them each day. Right now I do a little volunteer work for the local schools. I use to volunteer for a science club with my father. I was thinking about doing that again but this time by myself. I would also like to keep volunteering locally and at my work. The aquarium has many opportunities to volunteer and they are always looking for new people to volunteer. I haven’t volunteer for many of their events because I usually schedule to work them but I would like to volunteer with them some.

For my examples I chose three different museums to compare. The first museum I chose is . It is a smaller museum and shows what kind of genre I will be coming across if I work in smaller museum. The next museum I chose is the Cincinnati Museum. It is a more medium size museum. The last museum I chose is the Smithsonian. It is a big museum with many attractions.

In this example the Betts house is a small museum so there website doesn’t have as much to offer. This website does a simple description of the house and what they have. They just do it in paragraph form and doesn’t seem to update their website often. It has a lot of paragraphs and doesn’t have very many links. It is simple and to the point.

This link I believe is an important example of genre that I could be seeing as a museum curator. This link is to the Cincinnati Museum’s blog. The information in the blog various. I feel like this is a good example of how the museum is trying to stay inactive with the public. Whenever they find something interesting to talk about they post it. They also give tips and some history lessons.

In this example the Smithsonian went for more of a blog form. They have a list of historical objects and you can click on the object to read the description of it. In this link you can see Lincoln’s Contemporaries. It give you a description of it and then a website link to find out more about them. The Smithsonian has many different genres but the blog form seems to be the biggest one.